Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is a worthwhile sequel to the original Metroid Prime. It’s great in all aspects. But in all aspects, there’s always something holding it back.
The level design benefits from an “open-zone” approach. Its an element I never minded from the original Metroid Prime, but the lack of backtracking in Echoes allows each main area to linearly build tension - whereas at its worst, Prime 1 could feel meandering rather than awe-some. Each area is more complex, not only in how you solve puzzles and traverse them, but also in the fact that we have a parallel “Dark Aether” to traverse, with its own unique challenges, mostly based on traversal (physical and dimensional). This is all quite good, but I think leaning into this structure would have benefited the game. The open-zones are great. Like I said, they build tension and awe moreso than the original Prime did. In nearly all three main areas, I had to leave midway through my excursion. I found that I’d get halfway through an area, get stuck, then the hint system would guide me to an upgrade in the Temple Grounds hub area. In the latter two of three areas, this happened, and the hint system is not nearly quick enough to activate. I would have much rather had the game send me on a hunt for this upgrade in order to unlock the area’s they’re first used in, so I hadn’t made progress, only to be whisked away from an area’s self-contained narrative. I like these new areas for how invested you get in them, but Echoes takes you out of that experience when you really start to get going.
As for the story, it starts with a lot of intrigue, and throughout, it’s a great motivator to explore the world. It is very repetitive, though. The Space Pirate and Luminoth Warrior Logs are well-written, but they failed to capture the same kind of awe I had for Tallon IV in this game’s predecessor. A war between forces of light and darkness, a world caught in “transdimensional flux” - that’s cool! I’d be quicker to forgive how quickly the Space Pirates get written off if the Ing were explored more. How I see it, For the latter two-thirds of Echoes, the Space Pirates are radio silent, which I think was done to show how the Ing are a big threat. I like this idea, but I think the Ing aren’t explored enough, and their presence is to dull. They can certainly be threatening though, even if most of their physical appearances are through the posession and mutation of other enemies. They’re very similar to Phazon in that regard - which I think is by design, they seem related to or made from the substance. Ultimately, I just wish the narrative had better payoff, because it sets up an intriguing mystery, and lots of different parties in the conflict. Its contemplative tone is similar to Prime 1 however, which I think is to its detriment. I’m shown great potential, but left disappointed by these aspects by the end of the game, which is never good.
The combat is unique! It controls similarly to its predecessor, but this time I found it spellbindingly clunky. The moments where its clunkyness is most obvious are the main area boss fights, but those moments are also the game’s most intricate mechanically and cinematic. The new enemies make good use of Samus’ abilities; the different takes on resource management made me play a little more cautiously; and overall I’d say has very little sore-spots. My beloved scan visor got a facelift I didn’t know it needed until now, it’s so much more convenient to use. The enemies don’t require these beams and visors as much as the first Prime did, and while I love the first Prime’s combat, I certainly didn’t mind this new approach - especially when there’s still plenty incentive to switch your mode of combat.
Overall, I liked Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, a lot. More than things that take me out of the experience, things that fail to get me invested in the first place are what hurt it the most. I wanted more moments like every appearance of Dark Samus; I wanted to see Space Pirates get decked in real time; I wanted to see the Ing as a bigger threat than I did; I wanted a more active story. The commonalities between Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2, are where Metroid Prime 2 fails. It experiments with the Metroid Prime formula, but I think it needed to stray further away from it than it did, to truly stand out as a riveting, unforgettable experience. As it stands though, I had a lot of fun with its increasingly complex environments, and encounters.
The level design benefits from an “open-zone” approach. Its an element I never minded from the original Metroid Prime, but the lack of backtracking in Echoes allows each main area to linearly build tension - whereas at its worst, Prime 1 could feel meandering rather than awe-some. Each area is more complex, not only in how you solve puzzles and traverse them, but also in the fact that we have a parallel “Dark Aether” to traverse, with its own unique challenges, mostly based on traversal (physical and dimensional). This is all quite good, but I think leaning into this structure would have benefited the game. The open-zones are great. Like I said, they build tension and awe moreso than the original Prime did. In nearly all three main areas, I had to leave midway through my excursion. I found that I’d get halfway through an area, get stuck, then the hint system would guide me to an upgrade in the Temple Grounds hub area. In the latter two of three areas, this happened, and the hint system is not nearly quick enough to activate. I would have much rather had the game send me on a hunt for this upgrade in order to unlock the area’s they’re first used in, so I hadn’t made progress, only to be whisked away from an area’s self-contained narrative. I like these new areas for how invested you get in them, but Echoes takes you out of that experience when you really start to get going.
As for the story, it starts with a lot of intrigue, and throughout, it’s a great motivator to explore the world. It is very repetitive, though. The Space Pirate and Luminoth Warrior Logs are well-written, but they failed to capture the same kind of awe I had for Tallon IV in this game’s predecessor. A war between forces of light and darkness, a world caught in “transdimensional flux” - that’s cool! I’d be quicker to forgive how quickly the Space Pirates get written off if the Ing were explored more. How I see it, For the latter two-thirds of Echoes, the Space Pirates are radio silent, which I think was done to show how the Ing are a big threat. I like this idea, but I think the Ing aren’t explored enough, and their presence is to dull. They can certainly be threatening though, even if most of their physical appearances are through the posession and mutation of other enemies. They’re very similar to Phazon in that regard - which I think is by design, they seem related to or made from the substance. Ultimately, I just wish the narrative had better payoff, because it sets up an intriguing mystery, and lots of different parties in the conflict. Its contemplative tone is similar to Prime 1 however, which I think is to its detriment. I’m shown great potential, but left disappointed by these aspects by the end of the game, which is never good.
The combat is unique! It controls similarly to its predecessor, but this time I found it spellbindingly clunky. The moments where its clunkyness is most obvious are the main area boss fights, but those moments are also the game’s most intricate mechanically and cinematic. The new enemies make good use of Samus’ abilities; the different takes on resource management made me play a little more cautiously; and overall I’d say has very little sore-spots. My beloved scan visor got a facelift I didn’t know it needed until now, it’s so much more convenient to use. The enemies don’t require these beams and visors as much as the first Prime did, and while I love the first Prime’s combat, I certainly didn’t mind this new approach - especially when there’s still plenty incentive to switch your mode of combat.
Overall, I liked Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, a lot. More than things that take me out of the experience, things that fail to get me invested in the first place are what hurt it the most. I wanted more moments like every appearance of Dark Samus; I wanted to see Space Pirates get decked in real time; I wanted to see the Ing as a bigger threat than I did; I wanted a more active story. The commonalities between Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2, are where Metroid Prime 2 fails. It experiments with the Metroid Prime formula, but I think it needed to stray further away from it than it did, to truly stand out as a riveting, unforgettable experience. As it stands though, I had a lot of fun with its increasingly complex environments, and encounters.